Flutter Sleeves

Have you seen this free pattern from It's Always Autumn? I kept seeing it pop up on Pinterest, and finally decided to make it!

  It's a size 4/5, and in most patterns Gaiw wears a size 5 in height/ 3 in width, so I figured it might work for her, and if not I could take it in or give it to Booper. I sewed up the top version.

  I used a low-stretch, low-recovery knit that I bought last year in the Knit Fix Facebook group, for the purpose of making kiddie shirts. If I'd known about the lack of stretch and recovery, I might have passed it up, but the print is pretty cute!

  For once, I made something precisely according to the pattern! Hemming and all!

It turned out rather large on Gaiw though- it wasn't bad overall, but the neckline was pretty gapey, and after a bit of wear it stretched out to the point of indecency. The armscyes were also pretty low.

  After taking these photos I seam-ripped the neckband, gathered the sleeves again to 3", and sewed the shortened neckband back on. It helped, but not as much as I'd hoped.

  It's cute anyway though, and it's lightweight enough for summer.

  She'll probably fit it a bit better next year. I think the pattern would work more in a thicker knit with better recovery... I suspect that the fabric was the main culprit in this one not turning out as well as I'd hoped.

  Since I had more of the same fabric, and had been wanting to try another free pattern for a while, I sewed a shirt up for Booper!

  Hers is the flutter sleeve pattern from The Crafty Cupboard, but altered. The pattern is a size 7/8 and while Booper can fit a 7 in height, in most patterns she's a 5 or 4 in width.

  Based on that, I brought the side seams in by 1/2" and raised the armscye 1/2" before cutting it out. I think I lengthened the sleeves slightly, but I can't remember for sure. I also mashed the front and back together so the back portion of the shirt would have the fluttery sleeve too.

  I should have left the armscye alone.... it's a little too high now! But I'm glad I took the side seams in. Instead of pleating, I gathered the flutter portions of the sleeves:

  And I finished the neckline with a band instead of binding.

  This one turned out pretty decent, in spite of my armscye alteration! ;-) I'd like to make it as intended someday too.

  This one has already seen quite a bit of wear! =)

  As for everything else... I'm a little behind in my gifts-for-everyone challenge because I was trying to make a dress and pettiskirt to wear on my anniversary and it took longer than I expected. A lot longer, actually... the pettiskirt is done after loads of frustration, but isn't full enough, and I haven't figured out the fit on the sleeves of the dress yet. My anniversary was last month. For now, I'm taking a break from that and procrastinating on gifts by hand-sewing baby things. ;-)

Thanks for stopping by,